Stones of Empire : The Buildings of the Raj : First printing

Morris, Jan ; Winchester, Simon

ISBN 10: 0192114492 / ISBN 13: 9780192114495

Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom, 1983

About this Item

True first British printing with original unclipped (priced to publisher's sticker) jacket (£17.50). Large format. Index. Profusely illustrated. Text by Jan Morris. Photographs and captions by Simon Winchester. Jacket has minor patchy edge/shelf wear, the odd small mark, a little fading to spine, the odd small crease/rub to edges and minor pushing/rubbing to head/tail of spine and to corners. Boards are near fine with a hint of pushing to corners and minor pushing/rubbing to head/tail of spine. Pages are generally clean and the binding is tight. Pages are slightly tanned. Very occasional small mark to pages. No other faults. A nice copy. All books described honestly and accurately. Paypal accepted.

Seller Inventory # 011044

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Stones of Empire : The Buildings of the Raj : First printing
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom
• Publication Date: 1983
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0192114492
• ISBN 13: 9780192114495
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Winchester, Simon
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

No empire in history built so variously as the British empire in India. The buildings there attest to the richness of an imperial presence that lasted--from the first trading settlement to the end of the Raj--some three hundred years. The attitude of the British to India was compounded partly of arrogance, but partly also of homesickness, and it shows in their constructions. Georgian terraces were adapted to tropical conditions, Victorian railway stations were elaborately orientalized, seaside villas were adjusted to suit Himalayan conditions, and everywhere the fundamental ambivalence of the British empire, a baffling mixture of good and evil, was mirrored in the imperial architecture.

This book, now reissued with an introduction by Simon Winchester, was the first to describe the whole range of British constructions in India. The text and photographs illustrate these buildings not simply as physical objects, but as reflections of an empire's mingled emotions. Stones of Empire charts an enterprise in architecture, engineering, and social adaptation unique in human history.

About the Author

Jan Morris is an Honorary Fellow of the University College of Wales. Her many publications include Venice, The Pax Brittania Trilogy, The Oxford Book of Oxford, and The Matter of Wales. Simon Winchester is the author of the bestsellers The Map That Changed the World, The Professor and the Madman, and Krakatoa.